


Take My Hand

by Neimade



Series: Moments in Our Lives [2]
Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types, Terminator: Dark Fate
Genre: F/F, Homophobia, PWP, Porn with Feelings, Sweet but sexy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:54:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23995612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neimade/pseuds/Neimade
Summary: Dani struggles to come to terms with her feelings for Grace, and her destiny. Sarah tries to help. Grace has a limit to her patience.
Relationships: Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Series: Moments in Our Lives [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730347
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Take My Hand

Dani watches Grace sleep. It’s a rare treat, since Grace needs very little. The one or two hours she needs Dani usually misses, since she’s the one that needs more sleep. Grace looks younger while asleep, more innocent. If that’s possible. 

Dani knows better than to touch Grace when she’s sleeping, but she really wants to brush her hair back and trace her eyebrows. She almost reaches over, but stops herself. She doesn’t want Grace to wake up. The smallest movement and Grace will be up, eyes wild and wide-awake, looking for danger. 

Grace is beautiful, scars and all. There are no recent scars, but the scars that existed before she became an augment can’t be erased. There’s one on the corner of her chin that Dani can’t help wanting to kiss every time she notices it. Dani also inexplicably finds the faint scar across the bridge of her nose sexy. Her full lips call to Dani in a way Dani struggles to resist. As she sleeps, Dani can enjoy admiring how long her eyelashes are.

Sarah clears her throat loudly, and Dani jumps a little. Sarah is looking directly at her through the rearview mirror, and Dani feels guilty for some reason.

“What is it?”

Grace is sitting up. Dani puts a hand to her shoulder, pushing Grace back down so her head is in Dani’s lap again. 

“It’s nothing, _mi amada_. Go back to sleep,” Dani absently murmurs. She glares at Sarah, furious for waking up Grace. 

Sarah rolls her eyes and turns them back to the road. 

Grace has obediently closed her eyes again, and Dani takes advantage of the interruption to do what she wanted to do earlier. 

Grace’s skin is hotter than Dani’s. It has taken a long time to get used to. Now she finds it comforting. Dani wonders at how soft the skin is, how it feels on her fingertips. Dani's thumb runs over the fine hair of her eyebrow, tracing along the delicate bone until she runs into a thin, neat, white scar under Grace's eye. 

Grace sighs, curling up again, and is soon asleep. Dani can tell the moment she falls asleep because Grace's weight suddenly increases. And she's _heavy._ Dani remembers the first time Grace had collapsed on her. Between her and a grown man they had only been able to drag her. Lifting was out of the question.

Dani's mind wanders back to last night in the bar. Sarah is too perceptive. She had almost cornered Dani when Grace was getting drinks. Even now her eyes watch Dani constantly. She always seems like she knows something nobody else does. She makes Dani feel guilty.

Dani knows it isn't right to keep Grace carefully shuttered from her heart, but Dani isn't like Grace. Grace doesn't know what it's like for her. It isn't easy for Dani, who used to go to Mass every Sunday with _Papi_ and Diego, whose uncle Alexi had been disowned for his relationship with a man named Juan Carlos, and who had been roughed up in grade school for kissing her best friend Maria. The taunting and harassment hadn't been the worst thing about that whole memory. What haunted Dani was that Maria had never spoken to her again. 

Dani’s not being fair, and she knows it. Of course Grace knows what it’s like. Grace is a woman, too. Dani has seen her spit at, called at, and demeaned for her appearance. There’s something about her that makes people assume she’s a lesbian, and, yet, Grace handles it with, well, grace. Dani admires the way she just lets things roll over her. She’s a stone, immobile, in the middle of a raging river. Grace is easily the most incredible person she’s ever met. 

_Who taught you to be so strong?_ Dani wonders. She thinks about Grace's life, what her younger years might have been like, what that young girl had to go through to come out so strong on the other side. Dani wonders if her future self had a hand in it. It's difficult to think in these terms, to position herself as the older, guiding influence in Grace's life. Right now Grace has about a decade on her, and Dani can't see herself being someone that shaped Grace from her teens, can't even imagine who that person would be. 

Sarah knows Dani is struggling. Her knowing gaze is on Dani every time Dani turns around. Dani can't escape it. 

_You're a coward, Daniela Ramos. How the hell are you supposed to save the world someday when you're afraid to even hold your girlfriend's hand in public?_

Grace has obviously found the wrong girl. She's wrong about Dani. Dani isn't the future savior of the human race, can't be.

"What's wrong?"

Dani is so lost in her thoughts she doesn't feel Grace wake up at all. She looks down into those electric blue eyes, eyes shining only with concern and love. Dani's heart thumps, and she has to look away. It's lightly raining on the roof of the car, and the images moving by are only a blur. 

"I'm sorry," Dani whispers, almost inaudible over the rain. She feels tears burning behind her eyes and refuses to let them come. _Why am I even crying about this? I'm so pathetic._

"For what?" Grace asks quietly. 

"You deserve better," whispers Dani. To anyone but Grace, the words were so quiet they would have been lost. 

“Dani.”

When Dani doesn’t respond, Grace reaches up to gently turn Dani’s head so they are face to face. Grace still has her head in Dani’s lap, and she looks calm. Dani involuntarily relaxes. Damn Grace for being so perfect. Dani reaches up to cup Grace’s hand on her cheek, holding the strong fingers as if they are a lifeline.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” says Grace, and Dani can’t hold it in anymore.

“I’m the worst,” she says. “I am the absolute worst person. How can you even love me? I can’t even hold your hand in public.”

“I don’t care about that,” says Grace. “It’s not important to me.”

“It’s important to me!” Dani cries, and is aware of Sarah clueing into their conversation. She doesn’t care, though. She’s started talking and she can’t stop now. “You deserve someone who will stand up with their head high and who isn’t afraid of what other people think. You deserve someone who will give you everything.”

“Dani, you’ve already given me everything,” says Grace, eyes shining.

“No, I haven’t,” says Dani with anger. “ _She’s_ given you everything.” It’s out of her mouth before Dani can pull it back. 

This is the root of the problem. 

That secret voice, deep down, that tells Dani she’s a fraud, only a shell of the person Grace fell in love with. Grace doesn't know Dani isn't the same person who pulled her up out of the dirt, isn't the same person she fell in love with. Dani knows when Grace finds out, she’ll be disappointed, and Dani can’t bear the thought of ever disappointing Grace. It is painful to even imagine the scenario. And yet, here she is barrelling toward it full tilt. 

“Dani,” says Grace, slowly sitting up. The way she moves carefully, as if she’s afraid of spooking Dani, is infuriating. _Stop being so perfect!_ Dani screams at her. Of course it doesn’t come out aloud. 

“ _You've_ given me everything. You. I never imagined things could be like this between us, and it’s because of you and the person you are. I know you’re not the same. Nobody knows that better than me.”

“What if,” Dani begins, but has to try again when fear closes her throat. “What if I never become that person?”

The burden of knowing her duty to the future is heavy. She hasn’t spoken about these things to anyone, and it’s been eating at her, chipping away at her confidence. 

“We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year,” says Grace. “It’s all new. We’ve changed things by coming from the future. Hell, that future may never happen at all. That’s the beauty of it. Our whole lives are ahead of us, and they aren’t written yet. And I would have fallen in love with you even if the first time we met was when I came from the future.”

“You have no way of knowing that,” Dani retorts.

She regrets saying it immediately. 

Grace frowns, a look coming over her that terrifies Dani, and she wonders if Grace has finally had enough of Dani, if she’s finally realized the truth. That Dani isn’t worth it. 

“There’s something you need to understand, and I am only going to say this once: I absolutely will not apologize for even a second of the life I had with you, and I refuse to let it hold us back. You can come to terms with it, or not, but do _not_ insult yourself, or my past, by trying to say the only reason I love you is because of who you _might_ be someday.”

Grace is really angry, Dani realizes. Really angry. She also realizes she’s never seen Grace angry before. Not like this. She’s livid. Dani feels a little sick. 

“Pull over,” Grace says, looking at Sarah. 

“I don’t think -” Sarah begins, but Grace cuts her off.

“Now!”

The car skids a little on the wet pavement as Sarah pulls to the side of the highway. Grace is out in the rain before Dani can stop her. Not that Dani could stop her even if she had been a little faster. Dani scrambles out into the rain.

“Grace!” Dani yells over the sound of the rain pounding on the pavement. “Where are you going?”

Grace doesn’t answer, and when she leaps away with augmented legs, she is gone before Dani can say anything else. 

Dani gets back into the car, slamming the door.

“Well, bravo. I was beginning to doubt there was anything you could do to upset her,” says Sarah sarcastically. 

“Bitch shut the fuck up,” Dani snarles.

Sarah cracks a window and lights up a cigarette. 

Dani scowls over the empty fields just visible through the pouring rain. She imagined Grace would be angry when she realized Dani was a fraud, but this was different. 

_Dios mio, I am_ such _an idiot._

Dani opens the door.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” asks Sarah.

_To find Grace and apologize_.

“None of your goddamn business, old woman,” Dani says in Spanish. 

“Don’t get lost,” Sarah responds in Spanish. She drops the seat back and closes her eyes. 

Dani takes pleasure in slamming the door closed. Sarah doesn’t react, which pisses her off even more. Dani is drenched in less than a minute.

Dani doesn’t know where she is going. She has zero chance of finding Grace if Grace doesn’t want to be found. She marches down the road, turning into the cornfield. The rain has turned the soil into a gravelly mud, and parts of it suck at Dani’s tennis shoes, making walking difficult.

She walks for what seems like a long time, long enough that she regrets her rash decision. 

It feels like she's stepped into a fairy tale when she comes out of the corn field to find Grace standing, leaning, against the side of a well-maintained barn, just under the eaves. Her white shirt is soaked through and Dani can see pink skin where it clings to her skin. She’s not looking at Dani, although Dani knows Grace is aware that she is there. It hurts, knowing Grace can't stand the sight of her.

Dani is scared, but something inside her moves her feet. She doesn't tremble, and they take her the long walk from the edge of the cornfield to the space in front of Grace with far more confidence than Dani thought she had. 

Grace’s shoulders are hunched, and her hands are balled up in her pants. Her wet hair hangs over her eyes, and Dani can’t make them out. 

“I’m sorry,” says Dani, willing Grace to look up so she can see her face. “I’m an ass.”

Grace shifts, kicks at something in the mud, but doesn’t look up. Dani waits out the silence. 

“Is this going to be a thing?” Grace finally asks, and it’s clear from her voice that not all of the moisture on her face is rain. She’s made Grace cry. Dani feels awful. Grace still won't look at her.

“I don’t know,” Dani answers honestly. 

“If you’re always going to question whether or not I love you, I understand why you wouldn’t want to be with me,” says Grace. She turns her head, gazing anything in the distance so she doesn’t have to look at Dani. All Dani can see is her ear, and chin, and that scar Dani wants to kiss. “I can disappear. You’ll always be my mission, but you don’t have to see me at all. Except for, you know, if you get attacked or something.”

Dani reels a bit. Grace is serious. Suddenly Dani feels a kind of terror she has never experienced before. Grace can’t disappear. She can’t.

“I don't want that,” says Dani quickly. 

“Then what _do_ you want, Dani?” asks Grace, sighing heavily. 

_You. I want you._

“Please look at me,” says Dani. 

For a moment she thinks Grace won’t, but Grace’s shoulders drop, and she does. Of course she does, she’s the most courageous person Dani has ever met. Grace can face her own feelings, her fears, her weaknesses. 

Grace’s eyes are red, her lashes wet, and her nose is red. Color is high on her cheeks, and tears still gleam on her cheeks. She looks beautiful. Dani’s heart can’t take it. She steps forward. 

“I’m sorry for what I said,” Dani says.

Grace lets her run a hand down her forearm until Dani has Grace’s hand clasped in both of hers.

“It is hard sometimes, to compete with your memories. I know that’s not the only reason you love me. I’m sorry I said that. I think I’m just scared of what I feel, here, inside.” Dani carefully extends Grace’s fingers and places her warm hand over her pounding heart. “I’m scared, Grace, and I looked for a lot of reasons to keep you out, but... it’s too late for that. You’re already here.”

Grace looks from her hand to meet Dani's eyes. Her eyes are wet with tears.

“I won’t let you take that back,” says Grace, her voice low. She looks fragile, but there’s a gleam in her eye that warns Dani not to fuck with her. Dani shouldn’t find it sexy.

“I don’t want you to,” Dani breathes.

Grace leans down with a speed that surprises Dani, and kisses her, hard. She’s demanding in a way she normally isn’t. It’s a long, deep, thorough kiss that leaves Dani breathless and feeling claimed. 

Grace roughly manipulates Dani until her back slams against the wall of the barn, knocking a breath from her lungs. 

The rain is thickening just behind Grace, but the roaring in Dani’s ears is her own pulse. Grace claims her mouth again, and Dani’s head spins. 

She doesn’t realize Grace is working on her pants until they’re down around her thighs, and she doesn’t have time to think before Grace lifts her up, pinning her against the barn wall. Grace’s fingers are up inside her, thrusting. It might have been too quick for her to adjust, if she hadn’t already been so turned on. 

Grace bites her lower lip hard, pulling back to release it, leaving it to throb alone with a pleasurable kind of pain, a reminder that Grace had been there. Her blue eyes are more intense than Dani can ever remember, and she’s thrusting her hips in time with her fingers. She drops her head to Dani’s shoulder panting heavily in Dani’s ear. Dani can suddenly imagine Grace with something else strapped to her hips, thrusting into her. What would Grace do with both hands free? The orgasm is so quick she is shocked. One second she’s imagining Grace fucking her, pinning her hands to the wall, taking her roughly, and the next she’s coming, hard. Dani moans, shivering as the aftershocks spark all over her body. Grace can feel it, and she’s thrusting hard and slow, going deep, keeping Dani’s orgasm alive. Dani realizes Grace is using her own wrist as friction to thrust against, and that Grace is close to coming herself. 

“Yes, yes. Fuck me, _mi amada_ ,” Dani breathes into her ear, and Grace’s rhythm staggers. Dani’s going to come again. “You’re so good, you’re so, so good. Don’t stop.”

Grace comes with a grunt, and her ears flush bright red. She can’t help but thrust more deeply into Dani as her hips seek friction, and it’s all Dani needs to come again. She tears at Grace’s back as she clenches hard around Grace’s fingers. She silences her cry by biting into Grace’s shoulder. Grace eventually stills against her, head still buried in Dani’s shoulder, both hands now flat against the barn wall. Her hips are the only thing holding Dani up. 

This woman, this amazing, amazing woman, is in love with her. How could she be so stupid? Tears flood Dani’s eyes. 

“Grace, I have something to tell you,” Dani says quietly in Grace’s flushed ear. She kisses the delicate shell. It’s hot on her lips. Grace lifts her head from Dani’s shoulder. Her eyes glitter with unshed tears. 

“I love you. I love you so much. I'm so sorry I hurt you," Dani says, and she thinks it might be the most courageous thing she has ever done in her short life.

Grace kisses her with gentle lips, wrapping her arms around Dani, cradling her. It’s a long kiss that turns into a hug. Grace kisses her ear, and whispers into it.

“I know.”

They are quiet for a minute until Dani feels a cold draft somewhere uncomfortable. 

“Um, pants?” she says.

Grace laughs and sets her down. Dani pulls up her soaked pants, feeling some deep bruises that will probably take days to fully blossom on her skin. 

“Sarah is going to kill us,” says Dani.

“Who gives a fuck?” Grace replies, tossing her head and offering Dani a lopsided grin that has Dani’s stomach tumbling in knots. 

“Will you marry me?” 

It’s out before Dani even knows it's on her lips.

Grace freezes, laughs, looks at Dani. 

“What? Dani you can barely hold my hand in public,” she says, incredulous, making light of it. She’s clearly unsure but is graciously giving Dani an out.

“Um, sorry,” Dani immediately says. Grace’s face falls. “I mean, I’m not _sorry_ , sorry. Please don’t answer that. I can’t ask you to marry me here, in the mud, without a ring. This is seriously the least romantic spot in the entire world. Oh god, what am I doing?”

Grace looks shocked, genuinely shocked. Then she smiles, beams like a thousand angels, and Dani can’t breathe. 

“Yes.”

“I said don’t answer that!” Dani squeals as Grace laughs and wraps her in a hug.

“Yes, yes. Anytime, anywhere.” Grace is nuzzling her hair, kissing her cheeks.

“Seriously, this doesn’t count,” says Dani. 

Grace swings her arm under Dani’s legs, easily sweeping Dani up into her arms. Dani squeaks in shock. 

“Grace Harper, put me down!”

“No way. I’m carrying you all the way to the car,” Grace says, beaming. 

Dani laughs, looking at the most amazing woman she had ever met. Grace can handle anything, and Dani knows with Grace at her side, she can too. Her fear almost seems silly in this moment. She wonders if her future self from Grace's past had also fallen in love with Grace. She had to. How could she not?

Dani leans her head against Grace's hot chest and Grace steps into the rain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! These two are fun to explore. Might post more if the inspiration strikes. I do have half a mind to have Grace fill Dani's fantasy and rock her world.


End file.
